BRISTOL — The Eastern indigo snake hasn’t slithered down a gopher tortoise burrow along the bluffs of North Florida’s Apalachicola River in more than 35 years.

All that changed Monday when seven of the large snakes were released into The Nature Conservancy’s Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve in Liberty County.

The effort is the start of a 10-year project to reintroduce 30 snakes into the wild in a restored longleaf pine habitat that has taken decades to bring back.

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The offspring of these Eastern Indigo Snakes were released into Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Park July 17 as part of conservation efforts for the federally threatened species.
Hali Tauxe/Democrat

In the U.S., only 5 percent of the historic longleaf pine habitat remains.

“There’s less and less of it,” said The Nature Conservancy in Florida Executive Director Temperince Morgan. “But it’s an incredibly important habitat with a lot of biodiversity. Among those species, the indigo snake is one of the most important.

“It is a massive undertaking.”

The more than 6,000-acre preserve was once clear cut for timber and then replanted with slash pine. The densely planted managed forest changed the habitat and food supply for animals like the indigo snake, pushing the apex predator out of its home range.

Gopher tortoises were reintroduced after the land was reverted to include wiregrass and open pine stands. They helped reintroduce burrows, key habitat for a lot of animals, including indigos.

That’s where you’ll find Butters, one of the seven snakes released Monday. The 3-year-old male was left nestled in a gopher tortoise burrow ahead of a North Florida pop-up rain storm.

For the next three years, Auburn University graduate student Sara Piccolomini will traverse the Nature Conservancy preserve researching how the released snakes — born in captivity at the Central Florida Zoo’s Orianne Center for Indigo Conservation — react to their environment and to each other.

“All of this that’s happening to them today is brand new to them,” Piccolomini said. “So how they behave, how they move, how they select habitat may be influenced by something that’s not there.”

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The Nature Conservancy's North Florida Program Manager David Printiss holds an Eastern Indigo Snake whose offspring were released at Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Park Monday as part of conservation efforts.(Photo: Hali Tauxe/Democrat)

The burrows that the snakes were released into are roughly 20 meters apart. Males over the course of a lifetime can travel miles from their home.

The snakes released Monday were about 4-feet long but can grow up to 9 feet.

Piccolomini said a stable population of snakes from those released Monday could take years. But it would not be far-fetched to see offspring in the next year.

The Eastern indigo snake has been listed as threatened by the federal government since 1978. The glossy, blue-black serpents are non-venomous but play an important ecological role. As the largest native North American snake, they are known as top predators with an appetite for venomous snakes. They also feast on small birds, reptiles and mammals.

The Nature Conservancy's North Florida Program Manager David Printiss holds an Eastern Indigo Snake whose offspring were released at Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Park Monday as part of conservation efforts. Hali Tauxe/Democrat

The Nature Conservancy's North Florida Program Manager David Printiss holds an Eastern Indigo Snake whose offspring were released at Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Park Monday as part of conservation efforts. Hali Tauxe/Democrat

The Nature Conservancy's North Florida Program Manager David Printiss (left) and Auburn graduate student Sara Piccolomini prepare to release an Eastern Indigo Snake into Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Park Monday as part of conservation efforts. Hali Tauxe/Democrat

Auburn graduate student Sara Piccolomini demonstrates the radio telemetry equipment she will be using to track Eastern Indigo Snakes released Monday at Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Park Monday as part of conservation efforts. Hali Tauxe/Democrat

The Nature Conservancy's North Florida Program Manager David Printiss demonstrates the radio telemetry equipment researchers will be using to track Eastern Indigo Snakes released Monday at Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Park Monday as part of conservation efforts. Hali Tauxe/Democrat

Auburn University graduate student Sara Piccolomini demonstrates the radio telemetry equipment she will be using to track Eastern Indigo Snakes released Monday at Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Park Monday as part of conservation efforts. Hali Tauxe/Democrat

Auburn University graduate student Sara Piccolomini demonstrates the radio telemetry equipment she will be using to track Eastern Indigo Snakes released Monday at Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Park Monday as part of conservation efforts. Hali Tauxe/Democrat

Researchers are looking to successes at the Conecuh National Forest in Alabama where a population of indigo snakes was released in about 2010.

Monday’s release was the culmination of efforts by nearly a dozen groups who have worked years to restore habitat and reintroduce the snake to a place it once dominated.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Thomas Eason said critical to the return of the indigo snake was the planting of sparse longleaf pines, wiregrass and the introduction of gopher tortoises to reverse the effects of timber plantings that pushed the snakes out.

“It was that transition from an open environment with lots of food like this to a very managed landscape that made it incompatible with indigos,” said Eason, FWC’s director of the Division of Habitat & Species Conservation.

It’s easy to lose track of a 30-year project’s goals, Eason said, but Monday was a show of the commitment by so many.

“Today is special not just because we’re releasing an apex snake onto the landscape but because it’s the culmination of decades of work by hundreds of people,” he said. “Today is a big day for a big snake in Florida.”

Contact Karl Etters at ketters@Tallahassee.com or @KarlEtters on Twitter.